games-based-learning and g-Learning blog: learning

Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts

Tuesday, 25 February 2014

Education Revolution: 5 Pieces of Inspiration

Anarchy! I hope it is evident from our previous articles that we think the current education system is outdated and flawed. It has its merits, but it is also has huge problems and is leaving many children ill-equipped and disenfranchised. I have selected five pieces of inspiration, four videos and an article, towards an education revolution. This is something I am passionate about, but they speak for themselves, so I'll just dive straight in and then let you mull them over.

And finally, an article from Cracked.com: '4 Ways Your Education Was a Conspiracy to Make You Bored' - be warned, this one contains swearing and sexual references.

-UPDATE-

I came across another fantastic, inspiring video. Please give this one a watch too. Also, you might be interested in another school which has used pupil directed learning, see our blog post, 'Games Based School'.

For more inspiration, see our previous posts: 'The Future of Learning' and 'Sir Ken Robinson, Education and Gamification'.

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’s Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Sunday, 8 December 2013

Our Blog Content by Category

We have written quite a lot of content on this blog so far. We thought we'd give you an easy way to browse our posts by category, so you can easily find the topics that interest you most.

Design & Development

Games Based Learning Theory - Why It Works?

Games Based Learning Practice - How it Can be Used?

Games Based Learning Benefits - What Skills/Knowledge can be Gained?

Gamification

Education and Education Technology

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’sFacebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Friday, 20 September 2013

Video Games in School Infographic

Earlier this week, a wonderfully informative and interesting infographic was brought to my attention. It is from bestmastersineducation.com and this post is simply going to be dedicated to the infographic (it's a pretty long one). And as ever, if you have anything relevant like this to share, please do so in the comments section or email us at pfinfo@pixelfountain.co.uk

Source: Video Games in School

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’s Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Saturday, 14 September 2013

15 Articles that Show Gamification is Taking Over our World

Image courtesy of woodleywonderworks on Flickr.

Okay, yes, that title may be a bit of an exaggeration and may make gamification sound like a bad thing (and some of these articles will look at why that could be true). But the aim of this article, is to show the broad spectrum of uses (and abuses) of gamification, from education and training, to business, healthcare and more.

Gamification of Learning: Education and Training

Gamification of Business

Gamification of Healthcare

Gamification of Making the World a Better Place

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’s Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Friday, 23 August 2013

Summary of Games Based Learning Meta-Analysis

Image courtesy of Tess Watson on Flickr.

A report by Futurelab at NFER was published in April 2013 entitled: ‘Game-based learning: latest evidence and future directions’. The study was a meta-analysis of some of the existing research surrounding games based learning. It sought to answer the following questions:

What is game-based learning?
What is the impact and potential impact of game-based learning on learners’ engagement and attainment?
What is the nature and extent of the evidence base?
What are the implications for schools?

The authors found some interesting findings which I will summarise below and also offered some advice to teachers based on their findings (also below).

Academic Achievement

Where studies expressly sought to measure ‘academic achievement’, five calculated some degree of improvement.
Another meta-analysis observed significant, but undefined, cognitive gains across studies utilising games versus traditional teaching methods.
However, four studies found no impact on academic achievement.

Problem Solving Skills

The studies consistently found that video games can impact positively on problem solving skills.
All five studies that specifically focused on problem solving skills found some degree of improvement.

Motivation and Engagement

The studies consistently found that video games can impact positively on motivation and engagement.
The majority of the studies examining the impact of video games on student motivation and engagement found positive results. However, it was unclear whether this impact could be sustained.

Attitude to Learning

One study found that games promoted a more positive attitude to maths learning.
Another study explored mathematics or academic self-concept (the set of beliefs an individual holds about themselves as a mathematician) and found no improvement.
However, a meta-analysis found that significantly better attitudes towards learning were yielded for subjects using interactive games or simulations, compared to those using traditional methods for instruction.

Advice to teachers:

“The best way of integrating gaming into teaching is by using it within a clear pedagogic process. In particular:

Place learning activities and academic content within the video game’s fictional and entertainment context, maintaining a balance between fun and learning.
Make the academic content integral to the game rather than an add-on. Content-specific tasks work better when embedded in the fictional context and rules (‘mechanics’) of the game.
Carefully plan the roles that you and your learners will take on in the game. Teachers should play roles that allow them to mediate the experience for learners: providing guidance when needed; ensuring that rules are followed; and maintaining a respectful atmosphere.
Don’t try to divorce decontextualized components of a game (such as badges, scores or leaderboards) from the fictional context and rules of the game (the ‘mechanics’)”

We would agree with this advice and it is similar to the advice we give in our Games Based Learning Analysis and Planning Tool (click to download) and our blog post “Six Key Principles of Collaborative Games Based Learning”.

Conclusion
The report seems very positive and optimistic about games based learning. However, the authors seemed disappointed at the amount of and validity of existing research. For example they say, “It is important we develop a more analytic approach that considers how the different elements that operate within video games impact in an educational setting” and “We noted a complete lack of evidence about ‘gamification’.” That is, to some extent, to be expected as games based learning is a relatively new phenomenon. However, what they did find was insightful and supports some of our opinions about games based learning. It will be interesting to see what future research has to say about games based learning and gamification in education, and there is likely to be much more of it in the near future.

References

Perrotta, C., Featherstone, G., Aston, H. and Houghton, E. (2013). Game-based Learning: Latest Evidence and Future Directions (NFER Research Programme: Innovation in Education). Slough: NFER.

Click here to read in full.

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’s Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

How and Why Learning Simulations Work

pixelfountain design and develop learning simulations, so we thought we’d share some pixelfountain expertise, which is equally applicable to adults as children, rather than our usual games-ED and education focused bloggery. Not every subject lends itself to a simulation approach and not every learning need or outcome requires such a comprehensive method. However, learning simulations can be extremely powerful learning tools and this blog article should help explain what learning simulations are and why they are used.

What are Learning Simulations?

First, they are different to games and models, although there is some overlap:

	Games	Learning Simulations	Models
Atmosphere:	Fun	Serious yet fun	Serious
Purpose:	Entertainment	Learning / Knowledge	Information / Knowledge
Accuracy:	Fantasy / Randomness	Real enough	As accurate as can be
Usage:	Open-ended / Flexible	Flexible	Specific
Audience:	Gamers	Learners	Technicians
Usability / User Interface:	Hard in more detailed games	Easy to use	Can be hard
Engagement	Obsessional	Engaging	Boring

Research into Learning Simulations

A 2010 meta-analysis study conducted by researchers from University of Colorado Denver Business School reported that workers trained on simulation games versus formal classroom or web based tutorials, do their jobs better with greater skill and higher retention of relevant information. Workers not only had higher attainment of declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge at 11% and 14%, but more importantly they developed self-efficacy at a significantly higher rate - 20%. This is one’s belief in their own ability and competence to perform effectively in challenging situations with the intrinsic motivation to attain the desired goal or outcome.

Where Can Learning Simulations be Used?

Learning simulations also have various features that match to learning outcomes, but the subject area has to be appropriate:

Subject Area	Learning Need / Outcome
Big picture: · The subject can be thought of in terms of PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal & Environmental). · Individuals act according to drivers.	Strategic thinking: · Allowing learners to understand how differing PESTLE drivers can impact on direction and requirements. · Allowing learners to see issues from other people’s perspective. · Providing learners with the skills to make more strategic decisions or understand that decisions have a strategic dimension.
Complexity - components of the system (organisation / community / environment) need to be understood in terms of their relationship to other components.	Systems thinking: · Allowing learners to understand and deal with complexity. · Allowing learners to think of the machine rather than the cogs within it. · Providing learners with a mental map of the system enabling them to make better networks and improve decision making.
Cause and Effect - Decisions can have impacts throughout the system. If this then that and that and that, which makes …	· Decision making - allowing learners to think about the impact of decisions. · Joined-up thinking - allowing learners to think about multiple variables rather than linear thinking - typical of traditional training. · Providing an implementation mind set: this is how things work, this is how I can get things done.
Authenticity (situational understanding): · The subject is best understood in context. · The conduct of individuals is best understood in context.	Situational / Behavioural Understanding: · Allowing learners to test hypotheses and make mistakes. · Allowing learners to experience pressure and develop techniques to deal with it. · Allowing learners to understand that their decisions and behaviours impact on others and the system. Practice makes perfect. · Providing learners with a robust set of skills and behaviours (collaborative mind set). · Providing trainers with an integrated approach (testing skills and behaviours).

What Makes Learning Simulations so Powerful?

Sitting behind a simulation is an algorithm. This is a set of equations that “model” a situation. These equations are impacted by variables that change due to decisions made by the learners. What happens in a simulation is dependent on the actions of learners and is not buffeted by the vagaries of the coin toss or a Chance Card. That is not to say that randomness has no place whatsoever in a simulation. For example, when calculating the temperature at a given moment in a climate change simulation might require a degree of randomness (say 20%), which makes the simulation feel more real; i.e. the weather is not totally predictable.

Real Enough

Whilst the simulation “models” a situation, it is not a model in the strictest sense. A learning simulation needs to be real enough to allow learners to quickly explore a situation without getting too bogged down in detail.

Ensuring the Algorithm is Real Enough:
[Italics show input form client and subject matter experts (SME)].
• Analysis & Initial Design:
o   Scoping with client.
o   Interviews with subject matter experts.
o   Initial design created and is signed off.
• Detailed Design:
o   Look and feel + user interface.
o   Algorithm developed with input from SME.
o   Incidents developed.
o   Detailed design created and is signed off.
• Build:
o Media and interface.
o Incorporate algorithm.
• Testing & Tuning.
• Piloting:
o User group plays the simulation and provides feedback.
o The simulation is then tweaked.
• Train the Trainer and roll out of the programme.

We will discuss more about how to develop a learning simulation in a couple of weeks with our very own infographic.

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter, games-ED on Pinterest and like games-ED’s Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning findings.

Monday, 10 June 2013

The Gamer Disposition and Education

The Gamer Disposition is a collection of five key attributes that gamers possess that make them great employees. They were thought up by John Seely Brown and Douglas Thomas in 2008 and published in the Harvard Business Review. The traits are not simply attitudes or beliefs but aspects of character and personality that players bring to game worlds and that game worlds reinforce. Brown and Thomas argued that these traits make employees better suited to the 21st century workplace than non-gamers.

So what are the traits?

They are bottom-line oriented – gamers like being evaluated and their goal is not to be rewarded but to improve.
They understand the power of diversity – in online games, having a diverse make up of skills and expertise in a team is an asset and often a necessity. Teamwork is very important.
They thrive on change – gamers expect change; they go beyond simply managing it and actively create it, thrive on it and seek it out.
They see learning as fun – for most gamers, overcoming obstacles is where the fun of a game lies. Their reward is new knowledge and turning that knowledge into action.
They marinate on the “edge” – gamers are innovative, they think out of the box even when a simpler, more mundane way of doing something would suffice. They explore the ‘edges’ to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the game.

The authors conclude, “Together, these five attributes make for employees who are flexible, resourceful, improvisational, eager for a quest, believers in meritocracy, and foes of bureaucracy.”

What could the education system take from this?

I imagine you can see where I am going with this. If these traits make for great employees, perfectly suited to the 21st century workplace, should we not be doing more to help this process? Many children will play games in their own time, however some won’t. Games based learning in schools could be a safe, monitored and educational way of helping them develop these traits. The belief that video games are bad for children (whether at home or in the classroom) is simply outdated and there are a myriad of skills that can be gained and developed through playing games.

The traits are also not simply useful for work either. Being able to cope with and thrive on change, seeing learning as fun, appreciating the power of diversity, being innovative etc are all great traits for people to have in general. They are important life skills that cannot easily be developed and practiced in such a fun way. And there are plenty of other 21st Century Skills that games and games based learning can develop (see ‘21st Century Skills and Games Based Learning’). For example, our educational products are designed to not only support the curriculum and develop subject-based knowledge, but to develop collaboration skills, problem-solving skills, systems thinking, strategic thinking and so on (see the games-ED tab above or visit our website).

Please follow @paulladley on Twitter and like games-ED’s Pinterest, Facebook and Google+ pages for blog updates and interesting games based learning links and resources.

Pages